Teaching and mentoring are of central importance in my work. I have taught seven different courses (see descriptions below) during my time at GW—two undergraduate lecture courses, one undergraduate seminar, two doctoral seminars, and two MA-level seminars. My engagement with students continues during office hours and in one-on-one meetings to work on their papers; discuss their grant, fellowship, or graduate school applications; and advise them on their professional future.

Beyond teaching in the classroom, I have mentored many doctoral, masters and undergraduate students in their dissertations and theses; coauthored a number of papers with students; and supported students’ efforts to obtain funding for their research. There are few things more gratifying than receiving an email from a former student in South Africa or Argentina thanking you for your class because it has helped them understand societal tensions or do well at a job interview.

But teaching is not a one-way experience, I am constantly learning from my students. Their questions and personal experiences never cease to surprise me and lead me to pursue new research avenues.

Introduction to International Affairs

Undergraduate

This in-person course on International Affairs introduces students to the study of (violent and non-violent) interactions among governments, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as multinational corporations. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the field, exploring key actors, institutions, and the pivotal issues that shape global politics today. The course is divided into three key sections. It begins with an introduction to the major theories and concepts that help us understand the origins, form, and consequences of conflict and cooperation among states in both security and economic affairs. The second section delves into the international economy, trade policies, globalization, and the challenges and benefits of economic interdependence. Finally, the course surveys pressing global issues, including nationalist conflicts, nuclear proliferation, forced migration, civil wars, terrorism, climate change, and emerging technologies. Through lectures, case studies, and guest speakers, students will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges of promoting cooperation in a world where competition, conflict, and disorder often prevail. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the foundational knowledge to understand the dynamics of global affairs and the tools necessary to analyze contemporary international issues, including current inter-state flashpoints.

[Taught in Spring 2025]

Nationalism

Undergraduate

This is a class on the causes and the political effects of nationalism. The first half of the course is designed to provide you with an understanding of the most prominent explanations of the emergence of nationalism across the world, and the background knowledge and tools with which to evaluate them. We will discuss the importance of conceptualization in understanding social phenomena and confront terms such as: state, nation, nationalism, patriotism, minorities, identity, ethnicity, religion, class, and race. In the second half of the course, we will focus on the effects of nationalism on political identities, patterns of political violence as well as voting, and state policies toward minorities, diasporas, and immigrants. We are going to cover cases from around the world. Students will learn how to formulate research questions, develop arguments, and evaluate hypotheses.

[Taught in Fall 2009, 2010, 2012-14, 2016-22; Spring 2015, 2018-23, 2025; Summer 2015, 2018, 2020-23]

Fall 2023 |Spring 2024 On leave

Patriotism

Undergraduate | Honors Program

This course is intended as an introduction to the concept of patriotism, its precursors—conceptions of civic duty, organic association, and polis patriotism—as well as its various modern conceptualizations and repudiations—such as nationalism, supranationalism, regionalism, communism, and cosmopolitanism—as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition.

Being a course in the history of political ideas the overall goal of this class is to understand the way in which political ideas have shaped political institutions through time and space and how they inform our lives today. More specifically, we focus upon a particular set of ideas concerning the relation of the individual to the political community, the nature of political obligation, and various justifications for obedience to political authority. We also explore the uneasy relationship between concepts such as patriotism and nationalism. Thus, the goal of this class will be threefold: First, to trace the different relationships that individuals have had with political authority overtime; second, to understand the origin of the “nationalist choice” (exemplified in the contemporary nation-state system) and thus its potential alternatives (back then and now); and, finally, to draw implications for contemporary conceptualizations of membership in a community focusing on one case, the USA.

[Taught in Spring 2021-23]

Nationalism in Europe

Graduate | MA

This is a class on the causes and the political effects of nationalism in Europe. The first part of the course is designed to provide you with an understanding of the most prominent explanations of the emergence and spread of nationalism, and the background knowledge and tools with which to evaluate them. We study the transition from Empires to nation-states. We also focus on developments in the “periphery of Europe.” The second part of the course focuses on the effects of nation-building on state policies toward non-core groups and diasporas, patterns of political violence, and political identities. The third part of the course deals with contemporary challenges: populism, nativism, immigrant incorporation, the prospects of a European supranational identity, contemporary self-determination movements, and Gendered dimensions of nationalism. We cover cases across Europe and from different time periods. Students learn how to formulate research questions, develop arguments, and evaluate hypotheses.

[Taught in Fall 2020 and 2022]

Nationalism and Nation-Building

Graduate | Ph.D.

This is a class on nationalism, ethnic conflict, and nation-building. The course is designed to provide you with an understanding of the most prominent explanations of the emergence of nationalism across the world, and the background knowledge and tools with which to evaluate them. We discuss the importance of conceptualization in understanding social phenomena and confront terms such as: state, nation, nationalism, patriotism, minorities, identity, ethnicity, religion, class, and race. We also study the effects of nationalism on political identities, state formation, patterns of political violence, definitions of citizenship and migration policies, as well as voting behavior.

The course also focuses on nation-building, the various policies nation-states have pursued toward different non-core groups over the 19th and 20th centuries in their efforts to make the borders of the state coincide with those of the nation. State policies have ranged from deportation and killings to forced assimilation or even accommodation. The main emphasis is to understand the logic behind these policy choices and evaluate their consequences. Finally, toward the end of the course, we turn to “third-party nation-building” conducted by international organizations primarily in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans.

Using the reading material, we discuss various research methods (how to collect relevant data) and designs (how to maximize the information we can get from the available data). Issues of falsifiability and external validity of arguments will be discussed. Every student will be required to write a research paper or research design on some aspect of nationalism or nation-building that interests them using primary sources (archives, newspapers, parliamentary debates, memoirs, information sessions, NGO reports).

[Taught in Spring 2011, 2019 and Fall 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021]

European Integration

Undergraduate

The European Union (EU) is a unique international organization, a political project, and a political experiment. The goal of this class is to both introduce you to theoretical debates over the emergence and survival of the EU and help you become critical participants in the vibrant debates over its future. You will learn the history, structure, and politics of the European Union, including the challenges it faces today. In the first part of the course, we will cover the most prominent explanations of the emergence of the European Community; its historical evolution since the end of World War II; and the main challenges the EU faces today. We will also focus on competing visions within the EU (e.g., intergovernmentalism vs. federalism). In the second part, we will pay special attention to the EU Enlargement debate. In the final part, we will focus on transatlantic relations and the EU’s position in the world.

[Taught in Spring 2010-11, 2013 and 2020]

Spring 2017 | Fall 2018 On Leave

Nation-Building in the Balkans

Graduate | MA

This is a class on nation-building in the Balkans. The first half of the course is designed to provide you with basic historical knowledge on the region and an overview of “unfinished business” in the contemporary Balkans. In the second half of the course, we focus on the various nation-building policies Balkan nation-states have pursued toward different non-core groups over the 19th and 20th centuries. State policies have ranged from deportation and killings to forced assimilation or even accommodation. The main emphasis of the class is to understand the logic behind these policy choices and evaluate their consequences. Toward the end of the semester, we study “third-party nation-building” conducted by international organizations in the Western Balkans.

During the semester, students are introduced to the research tools they need to conduct original research. Students also learn how to formulate research questions and test hypotheses. Issues of falsifiability and external validity of arguments will be discussed. Using the reading material we will discuss various research methods (how to collect relevant data) and designs (how to maximize the information we can get from the available data). Every student will be required to write a research or policy paper on some aspect of nation-building in the Balkans using primary sources (archives, newspapers, parliamentary debates, memoirs, interviews, NGO reports).

[Taught in Fall 2009-10, 2013, 2019; Spring 2013 & 2015]

Fall 2015 |Spring 2016 On leave

Qualitative Research Methods

Graduate | Ph.D.

This course emphasizes theoretical, practical, and ethical aspects of conducting qualitative research. We cover the basic techniques for collecting, evaluating, and analyzing qualitative data in the social sciences. At the beginning of the course, students are introduced to debates over the ethical aspects of using certain qualitative methods. Practical issues such as getting Institutional Review Board approval and funding for a research project are also covered. During the rest of the semester, students are introduced to a wide variety of techniques of data gathering such as participant observation and ethnographic field notes; survey research and questionnaires; in-depth and informal interviewing; historiographic techniques; archival research; focus group discussions; and field experiments. Towards the end of the semester, students are also introduced to various methods for analyzing qualitative data, such as content analysis, discourse analysis, and interpretive methods. Emphasis is given on various ways that students can quantify qualitative data. Issues of replicability and external validity of findings are also addressed. Over the course of the semester, faculty from our department as well as neighboring institutions will join us in class and discuss their work, focusing on the lessons they learned and the challenges they faced while researching their topic. A central goal of this class is to help the students move from research design to project implementation, data analysis, and reporting. Students are expected to select a research site, “enter it,” get the most out of it, and not hurt the subjects involved in the process. Each student is required to develop a research project (that will not require travel), spend at least two hours per week in”the field” gathering data, and present his/her findings in the last week of class. On top of your individual work, you will work in pairs, critiquing/improving each other’s work during the course of the semester. Individual meetings with me are central to the class, but you are also encouraged to reach out to other faculty who have expertise on the topic you are researching.

[Taught in Spring 2010 and 2014]

An Introduction to the European Union

Undergraduate


Introduction to Comparative Politics

Undergraduate

[Taught in Summer 2013 at Korea University, Seoul, Korea]

Fall 2011 | Spring 2012 On leave